NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4635
SPONSOR: Sempolinski TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the family court act, in relation to issuing temporary
spousal support
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To aid victims of domestic violence who face financial burdens when an
order of protection is issued against a monied spouse.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section I provides that a family court may, conjunction with issuing a
temporary order of protection and temporary order for child support also
issue a temporary order for spousal support. Calculation of the tempo-
rary order of spousal support would be based on the metrics contained in
Domestic Relations Law Section 236 (6).
Section 2 establishes an effective date of 90 days after the bill
becomes law.
JUSTIFICATION:.
Currently, the Family Protection and Domestic Violence Intervention Act
authorizes Family Courts, when issuing orders of protection in family
offense cases. to issue temporary orders of child support. However.
There is no similar provision for temporary orders of spousal support.
In Matter of Childers v. Childers. 260 A.D.2d 767 (3d Dept. 1999), the
Appellate Division noted that child support. but not spousal support,
may be ordered in conjunction with the issuance of an order of
protection. This bill would bring New York State in line with 36 other
states that authorize orders of temporary spousal support in conjunction
with temporary orders of protection.
In a domestic violence situation, often times the petitioner seeking an
order of protection is vulnerable and lacks the finances necessary to
relocate and escape future violence.
Accordingly, this bill would permit petitioners seeking a temporary
order of protection to have access to emergency financial relief in the
form of temporary spousal support. One should note that since this bill
appears to address emergency situations, often financial disclosure will
not have yet taken place. Accordingly, the bill permits issuance of a
temporary order of spousal support notwithstanding that information with
respect to income and assets of the respondent may be unavailable.
Consequently, upon making an order for temporary spousal support espe-
cially where income and assets remain undisclosed, the court would set
the spousal support matter down for determination of the final order.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A.2430
2021-22: A.8394
2019-20: A.5720
2017-18: A.8836
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:.
90 days after the bill becomes law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4635
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SEMPOLINSKI -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to issuing temporary
spousal support
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The section heading and subdivision 4 of section 828 of the
2 family court act, the section heading as amended by chapter 335 of the
3 laws of 2019 and subdivision 4 as added by chapter 222 of the laws of
4 1994, are amended to read as follows:
5 Temporary order of protection; temporary orders for child support and
6 spousal [maintenance] support.
7 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of section eight hundred seventeen
8 of this article the court may, together with a temporary order of
9 protection issued pursuant to this section, issue an order for temporary
10 child support and/or temporary spousal support, in an amount sufficient
11 to meet the needs of the child and/or spouse, without a showing of imme-
12 diate or emergency need. The court shall make an order for temporary
13 child support and/or temporary spousal support notwithstanding that
14 information with respect to income and assets of the respondent may be
15 unavailable. Where such information is available, the court may make an
16 award for temporary child support pursuant to the formula set forth in
17 subdivision one of section four hundred thirteen of this act and for
18 temporary spousal support pursuant to the formula set forth in subdivi-
19 sion six of section two hundred thirty-six of the domestic relations
20 law. An order making such award shall be deemed to have been issued
21 pursuant to article four of this act. Upon making an order for temporary
22 child support pursuant to this subdivision, the court shall advise the
23 petitioner of the availability of child support enforcement services by
24 the support collection unit of the local department of social services,
25 to enforce the temporary order and to assist in securing continued child
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08123-01-5
A. 4635 2
1 support, and shall set the support matter down for further proceedings
2 in accordance with article four of this act.
3 Where the court determines that the respondent has employer-provided
4 medical insurance, the court may further direct, as part of an order of
5 temporary child support under this subdivision, that a medical support
6 execution be issued and served upon the respondent's employer as
7 provided for in section fifty-two hundred forty-one of the civil prac-
8 tice law and rules.
9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
10 have become a law.
